Ye Blacksmythe's Founderie Forum What are you working on?

I'm currently working on three large works sort of at the same time. Two are in a series, which makes sense, one is not, but will share some common elements, I think. The series is about the Lovejoys, a family known by the major governments of Europe (and now, the US!) for their exquisite craftsmanship in making weapons and war "devices".

The first book, April's Fool, is about Thomas Wiley Lovejoy, a young U.S. Marine who finds himself suddenly thrown headlong early into the Civil War. He was stationed at the Washington barracks that fateful October in 1859 when terrorist John Brown and a small army of insurrectionists seized the U.S. Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. The Lovejoys are a family of inventors, smiths, alchemists, machinists, engineers; geniuses. But, as with all genius, a little madness always lurks just beneath the surface.

As a result of the attack, he meets Lt. Colonel Robert Edward Lee of the U.S. Army 2nd Cavalry who is in charge of all federal forces sent to liberate the Ferry, as well as Lieutenant J.E.B. Stewart, U.S. Army 1st Cavalry, who is assisting Lee. Upon demonstration of a few "works in progress" by Lovejoy, Lee (an engineer by trade) is extremely interested in getting to know this young Marine and invites him to visit him at his home (Arlington) after the situation in Harper's Ferry has settled. The result of that meeting forges what will years later become "project Titan", a weapon so large in scope and power that the South will most assuredly conquer the North and win the war. Except...he is being hunted. Allan Pinkerton, staunch abolitionist, personal friend of John Brown, and renown detective and head of the newly formed U.S. Army Military Intelligence, has made it his life's mission to capture--and kill--Thomas Lovejoy.

***

The second book in the series (The Sands of Tripoli) is a prequel that continues to tell the story of the Lovejoy family. Thomas's grandfather, Elisha (Eli) Lovejoy, was a U.S. Marine during the First Barbary War with Tripoli.

In 1801 the Bashaw (Pasha) of Tripoli, Yussif Karamanli, declared war on the United States over the refusal of the U.S. to pay him $225,000.00 tribute. The pirates of the Barbary Coast were infamous for capturing ships and making slaves of their passengers and crew. The easiest way to avoid such "unpleasantries" was to pay for protection. At that time, the entire U.S. Navy consisted of less than 10 ships.

In 1803, the USS Philadelphia ran aground in the Bay of Tripoli while trying to enforce a blockade. Over 300 sailors and Marines were captured and forced into slavery. While the young U.S. government dawdled about how to retrieve (ransom) it's servicemen, a small, secret expedition of one ex-U.S. Army captain, nine Marines and an army of mercenary Arabs, Greeks, and Italians set out on a 600 mile journey across the Sahara to rescue those men. Eli Lovejoy was one of the "Tenacious Nine" who fought, crawled, and bled through the sands of the Saraha to finally reach the shores of Tripoli.

***

The third story is not really related to the others, but may have some threads here and there. It's the true story of Frankenstein (well, as true as historical fiction is "true"!) It delves into the story behind the popular novel written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in 1816. Awaecnian tells the "true" story of "the creature" brought to life from death and the consequences of playing God.

The story is actually set in the future (the year 2196) aboard the spaceship Angel of Light. It's destination is an outpost on Mars where a mining colony has discovered an essential element used to effectively control what will amount to the power of a small star. Dr. Josef Nikolas Tesla is about to perfect that fateful process his great ancestor (yes--not Victor Frankenstein, the fictional character Mary Shelley created to "mask" the true identities of the real "Drs. Frankenstein"-- Nikola Tesla (grandfather of the famous Nikola Tesla) and Johann Konrad Dippel.

Tesla and Dipple were both seminarians and avid lovers of stories and science. And they were geniuses. The fateful combination of extreme intellect, curiosity, overactive imaginations, the discovery of secret documents in an ancient monastery, and the tragic death of a child weave together to form a tapestry of destruction that will continue to be re-woven again and again in an attempt to get "the process"...right.

In 2187 something remarkable happens. The Singularity. Artificial Intelligence isn't artificial anymore and has now taken on an identity of it's own. Dr. Josef Tesla was at it's heart. His goal was to create a machine that could perfect the formula his ancestors only dreamed about and in the process, he awakened The Singularity: the birth of the transhuman mind. But something is still not quite right...

In 2196 he set out to Mars aboard The Angel of Light, a science and medical frigate, to obtain a new element discovered there that can potentially stabilize enough power to finally create the perfect being. Homo Machina.

I am currently working on a novel called What Dreams May Come, featuring Mary Todd Lincoln during her widowed years (1865-1882). It is a complicated mix of fantasy, history, and also focuses abit on the premise about "the power of dreams."

My character Peter is connected to Mary by a mysterious series of unexplainable dreams, waking visions and unforeseen predictions that are made by him - of events yet to come. He soon realizes, however, that their unspoken connection is quite deeper...and he must find out why.

As the story progresses, and the dreams continue - they all become centered about Peter's waking fears of death and insanity, and as he continues to wonder why his connection to Abraham Lincoln's widow is so strong; she begins to struggle with her own growing feelings towards him.

He suddenly becomes aware that he knows things that he could have not known...

Unless...

Unless...he's Lincoln re-incarnated?

::cool:: You will just have to wait and see ::cool::

You should post an excerpt here. Nobody's posting anything here but me!